Fife Ice Arena (originally known as Kirkcaldy Ice Rink) opened in 1938. Kirkcaldy Ice Rink was designed by architects Williamson & Hubbard. Fife Ice Arena is the home venue of the oldest ice hockey team in the UK – the

Fife Flyers Fife Flyers is the oldest professional ice hockey club in the UK, established in 1938. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy which has a capacity of just over 3000 (seated and standing). They joined the EIHL in 2011 ...

. It is also a venue for public skating,

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skati ...

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

and ice shows. The arena has also hosted concerts,

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

, motorcycle ice speedway and other events such as dog shows. The Fife Free Press dated 2 February 1938, announced 30,000 ordinary shares at One Pound (British pre-decimal currency) (£1) each in a proposed new rink in the town—25,000 shares were offered for subscription. On 17 February, plans to build the rink in the Gallatown were presented to, and approved by, Kirkcaldy

Dean of Guild A Dean of Guild, under Scots law, was one of a group of burgh magistrates who, in later years, had the care of buildings. The leader of the group was known as Lord Dean of Guild. Originally, the post was held by the head of the Guild brethren of ...

Court. The one-storey building contained seating for 4,500 and would cost £37,000 to construct. To put that figure into context the town's fire station, also opened that year, cost £15,000. The building was to have a carcass of steel stanchions and a roof span of 145 feet without any supporting pillars except those at the extremities, making it the widest construction of its kind in Scotland at the time. The rink's ground level would consist of an entrance hall, general office, booking office, confectioners and tobacconist, cloakroom with provision for a large restaurant, and a milk bar. Facilities also included dressing rooms with spray baths, while immediately above the entrance was the boardroom, bandstand and manager's office. The plans also had a touch of class—the restaurant featured Parker-Knoll chairs, curtains designed by Dame Laura Knight, as well as monogrammed cutlery. Much of the work was carried out by local tradesmen, including plumber James Blyth, while the original sound system came from E. Donaldson of Kirk Wynd. The builder was James Ramsay of Leslie, while joiner D. Mitchell & Sons, also of Leslie, worked on the roof.

Location and transportation

Fife Ice Arena (FIA) is located on Rosslyn Street in the North East area of Kirkcaldy known as Gallatown. FIA is approximately 1 mile from the A92, 2 miles from the railway station and town centre. * Drive: exit the A92 at the Redhouse roundabout (Kirkcaldy East & Central) and drive South on the A921 approximately 0.5 miles to the next roundabout. Follow the A921 (Town Centre) for a further 0.4 miles. Fife Ice Arena is on the right. * Bus: FIA is served by the #37 and #39 –

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011 ...

<> Glenrothes – bus services provided by Stagecoach East Scotland * Train:

Kirkcaldy railway station Kirkcaldy railway station is a railway station in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line and principal East Coast Main Line, north east of . British Transport Police maintain ...

is served by train services operated by

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise ...

one the

Fife Circle Line The Fife Circle Line is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, ra ...

. Kirkcaldy station is also served by

London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Fou ...

providing direct connections from towns and cities including

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Waverley, Newcastle,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Rink managers

Events

Other than league ice hockey, skating and curling, other notable events have occurred at Fife Ice Arena over the years. Some of these include, but are not limited to:

NHL/International players

A number of players with NHL experience have played for Fife Flyers and other British ice hockey teams. Some of the most noted players that have skated at Fife Ice Arena are:

Improvements and upgrades

Over the years Fife Ice Arena has undergone many changes, upgrades and improvements to the venue including:

Gallery

File:FIA Hockey Clock.jpg, File:FIA Electronic Clock.png, File:KIR c1938.jpg, File:KIR Clock c1938.jpg, File:KIR Skating c1938.jpg,

References

* The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.

* Page # 740

External links

Fife Ice Arena Official Site

Fife Flyers History

Fife Ice Arena – Gems of Fife
{{Elite Ice Hockey League Venues Indoor arenas in Scotland Indoor ice hockey venues in Scotland Sports venues in Fife Curling venues in Scotland 1938 establishments in Scotland Kirkcaldy Kestrels